Patients at more than four in five GP practices can now have access to their new health records online.

23.5 million people can now view their test results and check their consultation notes online or on their smartphone throughout the NHS app instead of needing to contact their GP.

The NHS delivery plan for recovering access to primary care, released in May, sets a target of 9 in 10 GP practices offering patients access to their records through the NHS App by March 2024.

The aim is to make it quicker and easier for millions of people to access healthcare, and also aims to free up to 10 million GP appointments a year by next winter while giving the public more choice in how they access care.

Vin Diwakar, national director for transformation at NHS England said: “I want to thank colleagues across the country who have been working hard to make this possible.

“In October alone, more than nine million people viewed their health records through the NHS App which means they can manage their own heath better while GP practices are seeing a reduction in telephone calls for things like test results.

“Boosting patient records access will undoubtedly bring improvements for both patients and staff.

“More than 4,500 practices across the country have given patients access to their future records and we strongly encourage the remaining practices to implement the change with support available to help the practices that are having challenges delivering this service to patients”.